Original version

BBC World Service

BBC World Service Radio

World Service Radio

World Business Report

Factual: Money

The latest business and finance news from around the world, on the BBC

The latest business and finance news from around the world, on the BBC.

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

World Business Report: First broadcast 22/12/2020 22:32 GMT: US sues Walmart for alleged role in opioid crisis

Bulletins

US sues Walmart for alleged role in opioid crisis

First broadcast 22/12/2020 22:32 GMT

First broadcast 22/12/2020 22:32 GMT: US sues Walmart for alleged role in opioid crisis

BBC World Service - World Business Report, US sues Walmart for alleged role in opioid crisis

The US Department of Justice has accused Walmart of helping fuel America's opioid crisis.

In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, prosecutors said American retail giant Walmart filled hundreds of thousands of questionable prescriptions, "knowingly" violating vetting rules and fuelling the country's opioid crisis. We get the latest from Wall Street Journal Justice Department reporter Sadie Gurman. The US Congress has passed a long-awaited $900bn package of coronavirus pandemic aid. Diane Schanzenbach, director of the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University in Chicago, tells us whether the aid bill is likely to be effective. Also in the programme, in light of a case reaching the US Supreme Court which examines whether multinationals should be held accountable for the working conditions of people in other countries who help make their products, the BBC's Mike Johnson reports on the global chocolate industry, and the plight of some cocoa workers, both children and adults, who have been trafficked across borders. Plus, we find out how the pandemic has impacted ticket sales for the world's biggest lottery, El Gordo, which was drawn today in Spain.

(Picture: a sign for a pharmacy is posted at a Walmart store. Picture credit: Getty Images.)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

World Business Report

First broadcast 22/12/2020 22:32 GMT: US sues Walmart for alleged role in opioid crisis

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service

About BBC World Service